When DeMarcus Grady decided to play football at Northern Illinois, he wondered if he made the right decision.

Grady, who graduated from East Grand Rapids in 2007 and quarterbacked the Pioneers to the first Division 3 state championship in their current streak of five in a row, did not wonder if he had chosen the right university. He wondered if he had chosen the right sport.

After thinking about it for more than three years at NIU, Grady now is doing something about it.

After being redshirted as a freshman then playing the past three football seasons, Grady has decided to play basketball as well. He has played sparingly in two nonconference road games so far, but hopes to have an impact on the hardcourt when Mid-American Conference action begins Saturday.

“I have always thought about it,” Grady said. “Even when I committed to play football, I had the desire to play basketball. Sometimes I wondered if I had made the right decision. That desire has always stuck with me.”

Grady made his decision to play basketball after a difficult football season.

He opened the season as the Huskies’ starting quarterback and completed 14-of-29 passes at Iowa State but also threw three interceptions in a 27-10 loss. He played in only three other games and never threw another pass.

“It was not my best game, but I don’t think I played bad enough to have my position taken away from me,” Grady said.

He was replaced by junior Chandler Harnish who led the Huskies to a school-record 11 wins, including a 40-17 victory against Fresno State in the Humanitarian Bowl at Boise.

“My teammates were in my corner and a lot of people didn’t understand it,” Grady said. “After that, I only got about three or four reps in practice throughout the week. I spent most of my time standing around, so it was hard for me to stay motivated.

“Chandler made the situation easier for me. We had multiple discussions about things, and he has always supported me.”

“Coach Patton told me he was OK with it, and he welcomed me,” Grady said. “Just being out there is a blessing.”

Grady, who is majoring in sociology, plans to graduate in May and enroll in a sports management master’s program at NIU next fall. With one more year of eligibility remaining, he expects to play football and basketball next year as well.

He will have a new football coach, however, as Jerry Kill left NIU for Minnesota and has been replaced by Dave Doeren.

“I talked it over with our new football coach, and he told me I could play both,” Grady said. “He told me to come back next year and dedicate myself to playing football.”

Grady’s cousin, Kelvin Grady, who also graduated from EGR in 2007, made a reverse move at the University of Michigan. After playing two seasons of basketball with the Wolverines, he joined the U-M football team.

“It was extremely tough for me,” Kelvin Grady said. “It’s not something that is easily done. My advice to DeMarcus is to stay positive and confident, and never let your mind tell you that you can’t do it. The mind is a powerful thing and the time will come when it tells you, you can’t do it. That’s when you have to put your mind to it, because you can do it.”

NIU opens its MAC schedule Saturday at home against Ball State.

“I don’t live life with regrets,” DeMarcus Grady said. “Everything happens for a reason. Even though things didn’t work out the way I thought maybe they should have, Coach Kill came into my life for a reason. From him, I have learned to work hard and live every day to the fullest. That has helped me to grow and mature.”